China to check bridges for safety concerns
China has ordered a nationwide inspection of bridges and tunnels amid concerns of bettere safety.
By PTI |
BEIJING: China has ordered a nationwide inspection of bridges and tunnels following a deadly bridge collapse in central China's Hunan Province that claimed at least 47 lives.
Local communications authorities should closely examine every ongoing masonry arch bridge, a kind of bridge with stones, cement and sands but no steel bars, Minister of Communications, Li Shenglin said.
Unless no safety hazards are found can the construction work be resumed, he said at a conference on communications safety control held on Friday.
Bridges with serious flaws will be closed. The 328-meter-long, 42-meter-high bridge over the Tuojiang River in Fenghuang County in western Hunan Province, collapsed on Monday afternoon when some 123 workers were dismantling steel scaffolding.
An investigation into the causes of the accident is still underway though some reports blamed the early dismantling of the steel scaffoldings as the prime reason for the collapse of the bridge.
Construction began in March 2004 and the bridge was scheduled to open to traffic at the end of the month.
China currently has more than 530,000 highway bridges, about one in three were built in 1960s and another one third in around 1980s.
Local communications authorities should closely examine every ongoing masonry arch bridge, a kind of bridge with stones, cement and sands but no steel bars, Minister of Communications, Li Shenglin said.
Unless no safety hazards are found can the construction work be resumed, he said at a conference on communications safety control held on Friday.
Bridges with serious flaws will be closed. The 328-meter-long, 42-meter-high bridge over the Tuojiang River in Fenghuang County in western Hunan Province, collapsed on Monday afternoon when some 123 workers were dismantling steel scaffolding.
An investigation into the causes of the accident is still underway though some reports blamed the early dismantling of the steel scaffoldings as the prime reason for the collapse of the bridge.
Construction began in March 2004 and the bridge was scheduled to open to traffic at the end of the month.
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China currently has more than 530,000 highway bridges, about one in three were built in 1960s and another one third in around 1980s.
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